Teardrop Pill Box Hat

I'm so excited about this hat - I think it has turned out adorable and is a cute topper to my costume! On Monday, I made a paper mock-up of a teardrop shaped pillbox. I brought it in to my internship at Topsy Turvy Design on Wednesday, and Kim set me up with all the materials and tools to make it right then. I worked on it for a few hours then, building the majority of the hat out of millinery wire, buckrum, batting, velvet, a sewing machine and some hot glue. She even let me raid her appliques, and helped me decide on the perfect one. She gave me a few dyed peacock feathers and finishing bits, and sent me on my way to finish it up - which I just did today!

I had most of the feathers on hand, waiting for the perfect use. Today, I lined the hat, which included padding out the inside top and using spray glue to adhere black satin. Then, folding and pleating where necesarry, I pinned the lining up the sides, and hand sewing it all in to place. The elastic cord is sewn between the layers to keep the hat on.


Pretty cute for my first start to finish hat!! I even added some peacock and pheasant feathers to my bustle/tail to tie the colorways together. Besides the tray, which I'll need outside help with, I'm considering this costume DONE!

Burning Man Feather Bustle, Buttons, and Sleevelets

With an extra free day today, I spent the morning finishing up my Burning Man costume.

First up was the "bustle". I had a general idea of how I wanted this to look, so dug into building the base, which all the feathers and frills would be attached to. Using buckram and millinery wire, I made a heart shaped pad which I essentially quilted with batting and some thick fabric scraps, and backed with some faux leather. What I ended up with was a strong, solid base which I will snap and hook onto the bottom center back of the corset - that way the costume can travel easier and will last longer!


First I used millinery wire to wire a strip of lace I cut to use as a large bow. After pinning said bow in place, it was time to play with feather and fabric placement. Once I figured out how I wanted the colors of the feathers to blend and where I wanted them to lay, I heated up the trusty hot glue gun and started adhering them to the heart. All the feathers were glued down first, followed by the bow, some fabric scraps, and finally a vintage hair clip I've had forever. I finished it off with some of the same glass beaded fringe from the corset.
I think it turned out really cute! The last step, which will have to wait until I can get to a fabric store, is to sew on giant whopper poppers (the very technical name for giant snaps) to the corset and to the heart. Than, voila! A feather bustle fit for a Cigarette Girl!

Earlier this week I finished the closure on the pumpkin breeches - four cute gold buttons.


And finally, I also whipped up some cute little lace sleevelets. They're almost done, though I'm keeping my eyes open for the perfect lace to trim the hand in.


So the costume is almost complete! The last big component is the hat, which I hope to start in on soon!!

Thanks for reading and if you have any ideas or suggestions please let me know!